UNLOCKED, kotlc

Chapter 32

Normally, Sophie wouldn't be dreading it.

Just another Team Valiant meeting.  But now- wearing a dress and a tiara in front of Keefe Sencen....  Sophie felt like melting into a puddle of ooze, but figured she shouldn't say that in front of Grady.... or Sandor for that matter.

Edaline picked out a shimmery periwinkle dress with a beaded necklace which Sophie reluctantly put on.  And then the makeup- why the makeup? -was applied in gross sticky layers by her annoying girl programmed into Jolie's old mirror, Vertina.  Sophie decided to wear her starlight crown because it was the most inconspicuous and if she wore her very large and intricate sunlight tiara in front of the rest of her friends, she'd never hear the end of it.

By the time they finally reached Eternelia, all her friends were already there, dressed in fancy clothes and all having very different reactions to Sophie being there.  Keefe, Dex, and Fitz just stared at her, their mouths hanging open, and Linh and Biana were half smirking at the boys and half waving Sophie over.  Tam, Wylie, and Stina continued on talking like nothing had happened.

Sophie also noticed that Maruca and Marella were there too.  Maruca looked mostly back to normal, despite her abduction just a few days ago.  Marella looked very uncomfortable in her white gown, which Sophie could understand.

Surely they couldn't be adding all of these people to Team Valiant.... right?

Emery came out of the building and invited them inside.  Sophie recognized this- it was the room where they had the Tribunals usually.  This was the room where they decided Alvar could stay at Everglen, where she almost got expelled from Foxfire, and nearly got exiled for bottling Everblaze. Yay! Happy fun times.

Without the crowd of people, the room looked eerily empty.  The councillers, as usual, sat at the head table, and the rest of her friends took seats right in front of them.  As the leader, Sophie had to step up to the front, standing, and face the entire Council- which sadly, wasn't too scary since she found herself in this position way to many times.

"So Mrs. Foster," Emery said.  "I see you have succeeded on our assignment?"

"Er... I mean, yes, we did,"   Sophie stammered.  She managed to recap the entire course of events in five sentences, which her concise-paragraph-urging English teacher from the Forbidden Cities would've been proud of.

"Very well,"  Emery decided, and then held up a hand to signal her to stop talking as he managed a Telepathic conversation between the Councillors.  "We have decided.  I think that your friends, and I do mean your non-Team-Valiant friends have proven very useful to your assignments.  Do you think you could've achieved where you are now without them?"

Hope surged through Sophie like running water.  "With all due respect, absolutely not.  They've helped me with everything I've ever done since years ago."

"I don't think we could add that many people to Team Valiant but... perhaps if we made more of you regents?  I know this is usually scorned since you're all so young but... you've proven to be more helpful than some of our Emissaries, truthfully.  How about this- which of you young Foxfire students would like to be part of the team?"

Keefe and Fitz's hands shot up first, followed by Tam and Linh, and then tailed by Maruca and Marella.  Sophie felt a burst of pride as she realized how much her friends were willing to stick up for her.

"Okay," Oralie cut in.  "So Mr. Tam, Ms. Linh, Ms, Endal, and Ms. Redek will be on Team Valiant 2.0.  But then there's the matter of Keefe and Fitz...."

"How about you choose, Mrs. Foster?" Bronte suggested.  "Which one do you want on your team?  Keefe or Fitz?"

"Did Ro put you up to this?"  Biana asked him, but her smile told Sophie she was looking forward to her deciding.

"Nope!  He's naturally like that,"  Keefe said.  When Sophie interlocked eyes with him, her heart melted and sped up at the same time.  She stared at his ice blue eyes, because behind all his jokes and bragging was a boy who was scared and alone and needed her more than a Vacker, especially Fitz ever would.

"Have a choice?"  Oralie asked kindly.

It was probably the first time she responded to Oralie in days.  She looked at Keefe first.  He needed her.  And more than she was willing to admit, she needed him.  And meanwhile Fitz was this perfect Vacker with awesome parents and fan clubs giggling behind him in the halls.

And that's why she looked straight between them as she said, "Keefe."